The Anatomy of Cross-Dimensional Pirates (One-shot Collection)

Price On Your Head

It was after Law raided a Marine base that it happened. Honestly, Lexi should have been expecting it, she supposed, but it just never really came to mind.

It was a new morning, a few days after Law had attacked the base on the small island. She wasn't sure how to really feel about the whole operation to begin with, but Law was her Captain and she knew he hated the Marines with every fiber of his being. Most pirates did. Still, when he'd brought up his plan to further their reputation by attacking in the first place, she remained quiet. Thankfully, Lexi was still learning how to fight, and wasn't expected to partake in any actual combat yet.

Instead, her role would be to help the medics treat any of their wounded afterwards. This suited her just fine, as she wasn't sure how she'd fare in this world. Nevertheless, she'd been forced to leave the relative safety of the submarine when the base received unexpected reinforcements. Law hadn't anticipated a nearby warship to appear, and it had put a dent in his supposedly infallible plan.

Lexi and one other medic were instructed to bring those who were no longer able to fight back onboard, even with battle still waging around them. Despite her initial fear, she was glad that Law was beginning to rely on her help with more important roles as time went on. Sure, it may seem small in comparison to the amount of work others did, but it was better than simply cleaning up tools after a surgery.

Thankfully, they hadn't taken too many casualties, and those that were injured had been helped into the infirmary by their nakama, lain on cots and given basic treatment before more intricate work could be done.

Law had returned from the battle covered in dirt and a few cuts to his body. He seemed to ignore his own wounded state while he helped his crew, prompted to wash and bandage his wounds only after Lexi pointed out that it could cause infection to others.

After everyone had been taken care of, the navigators had taken the submarine to safety, submerging below the ocean and away from the ruined base. Law had been sure to leave many survivors to tell about what had happened, in an attempt to further his own bounty.

Now, a few days later, Lexi was enjoying breakfast beside her Captain and Bepo, one of her many textbooks in front of her as she flicked through the pages. Unbeknownst to her, Law watched her with intrigue.

A crew member approached, holding that days newspaper. "Captain, the News Coo just arrived."

"Thank you." He replied, taking the offered papers. Sipping from his steaming mug of coffee, Law inspected the latest news without much interest. Nothing new seemed to be happening as of late. Moving past the main articles, he skipped to the bounties section, where his was yet again amongst the regulars to be featured on the page. Smirking, he was glad to see the number had gone up by at least ten thousand beli. Good, his efforts weren't in vain.

Law's gaze drifted through the others out of boredom, before lighting on a particular one that caught his interest. Smirking, he folded the paper and nudged the brunette sitting beside him.

"Hmm?" She questioned, leaning over to see what he was showing her. Spotting her own face on the wanted poster, her eyes widened. "Eh!? When did they take that?"

"Most likely at the marine base we attacked. You were outside helping bring injured inside." He tapped the beli amount on the bottom. "It's unsurprising that it's such a low number, considering you haven't shown any public aggression."

She snatched the paper out of his hands and stared at her picture. She was kneeling on the ground besides a person, though their face was obscured so she couldn't tell who.

"I'm a criminal now!?" She asked no one in particular. Law only chuckled, watching her face morph from shock to worry, to curiosity, then to fear. "Does that mean someone's gonna be hunting me?"

"For a bounty as low as that, I highly doubt it." He replied.

Somehow, they'd learned her name, because it was printed on the paper. Below all of that was the number 50,000. She cocked her head, not really sure how low that was to be considered.

"Well, what's your bounty? I don't know what's high or low."

Smirk still in place, Law leaned forward and pointed at his own poster, and Lexi gripped the paper a little tighter. "What!? How is it that high!?" Compared to her measly bounty, she couldn't imagine something as high as what Law's was. In her world, bounties weren't more than a few tens of thousands of dollars, right? How dangerous was Law to warrant the hundreds of millions of currency on his head?

"Let's just say I've got quite the reputation." He chuckled, amused at her reaction. He watched as her expression of shock turned into a small pout, placing the paper on the table and leaning against it on one hand.

"For my first bounty, I was hoping for a bit more than that." He heard her grumble.

"Hmm." He hummed, leaning towards her face. He nudged her chin up with his hand, causing her to look into his eyes. "I'm sure your time with us will increase its worth. Give it time."

Bepo, who was seated next to them but still too far away to hear their whispered conversation, reached for the paper, looking at what was so interesting. His Captain's bounty had increased, but that was no surprise. Eyes scanning the rest of the page, he found Lexi's picture and then the amount they'd pinned to her.

With a loud sigh, he slumped in his seat, an aura of sadness overcoming him. Lexi looked over, alarmed at the sudden shift in Bepo's attitude. "Hey, what's wrong? Is everything ok?"

"It's not fair..." He mumbled, getting up and leaving the table. Lexi, horrified that she'd done something to upset the bear, started to rise out of her seat, but was brought back down by Law's hand at her wrist.

"Leave him, he'll get over it soon enough." He chuckled, meeting her worried face.

"What was that about though?"

"Bepo's always been a little...sensitive about his low bounty. It's only 500 beli, even though he's been in the crew perhaps the longest. Apparently, the World Government believe him to be a pet."

Lexi frowned, watching the bear exit the room, feeling bad that her bounty was more than his, even after so many years of trying. She couldn't help but smile a little at his dejected state, however.

Even when he was sad, he was so freakin' cute!